My image=Honorable Mention

I recently entered the spring Idaho Birding Photo Competition, sponsored by Idaho Camera. Out of 94 entries, my burrowing owl image, below, took an Honorable Mention. I am quite proud of my image and the comments by the judges.

Judges Comments: "This is the kind of image I would see in National Geographic. The first thing that strikes me is the eyes of the owl that captures the viewer and holds them. It is an intense stare and you get a connection to the owl because of this. I like the way the creator of this image simplified the background through shallow depth of field, the background is completely indistinct and just becomes a lovely green backdrop to this image. I like the rim light that really make the bird stand out from the background, and the fact there is enough shadow detail for those eyes to grab you. I think the only thing I find myself wanting is a little more intensity in the eyes...not too much. That might be accomplished through a low-power fill in flash or perhaps some mild post-process. All in all, a great image."


I really enjoyed getting the judges' comments on my own image, as well as the others, as they help me improve as a photographer.

I knew when I saw the winning image that it would probably take first, and I agree with the judges' 1st. place pick. Personally, I would have liked to see a little bit more light on the eyes, though. See it here.

Backyard Birds in the Rain

Today was an unusually rainy, cool day for this time of the year, in my neck of the woods. The birds didn't seem to mind too much, though. They were going about their winging, fledging, feeding, flitting, and generally seemed to be enjoying the spring rain. I thought I'd share a few of the photos I took today.

A young dove, on my patio.

These newly fledged house finches enjoyed hanging out on and around the feeding station.

A young female goldfinch endured the rain falling on her head.

More finches on the feeding station.

A male goldfinch awaits his turn at the feeder.

Mourning dove, hanging out on the trellis.

This Eurasian Collared Dove found a lovely perch in one of the trees.

New visitor, Lazuli Bunting

This little beauty is a Lazuli Bunting. I'm not even sure just how to pronounce it, but it was another first time guest in my yard this spring. He was soon followed by several others and visited on a daily basis. I assume they were just passing through since I haven't seen them in the past couple of days now. I'm still so new to birding and this migration thing, that I don't know if we aren't offering the right food now or if they were just fueling up to finish their trip. Which ever the case, I hope they return at sometime in the future. Their coloring is so pretty and it's only the second bird with blue that's visited my yard, the other being the brewer's blackbird. Until next time...

"New First-time Visitors"

I've had some new visitors to my backyard recently. One, pictured below, is the Brewer's Blackbird. He and a female showed up recently. I love the beautiful coloring of this male. The metallic-like sheen of the colors in the sun are amazing! The variety & creativity of God is so astounding, & I am always delighted when a new one shows up in my yard.

I think this guy knew it,too! He must have seen his reflection in the sliding, glass doors, because he came right up to it until he was too close for my camera to focus, with the lens I had on it at the time, and appeared to be quite taken with his own good looks, or perhaps mine. haha

After a nice long look, he turned and strutted away as if to say, "Oh yeah, I'm lookin' good!" Too funny!

I haven't seen them in the past couple of days, so they may have been just passing through. From what I've read, they usually hang out with a group of other blackbirds of their kind or even with red-winged blackbirds, but perhaps this changes in the spring when they pair up. If you know, maybe you can enlighten me. Thanks.

Another recent first is the White-crowned Sparrow. These guys are just plain cute, especially with they're in my deeper grass and you just see their little heads popping up and being lit by the sun. (no pix of that, yet) At first I noticed only one or two, but in subsequent days we've had as many as 6 or more at a time.

They seem to arrive in the trees and then land down on and around the rocks of our island, over to the pond and all through the grass. They also like to feed on the deck, under the hanging feeder and get what drops to the ground from the finches feeding above.

When you open up your yard up to feeding birds, you just never know what might show up. Until next time...

To see more of my backyard visitors, click here.